Despite the high profile of the alleged perp, the national media is ignoring the arrest of a longtime assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit on Sunday in a child-sex sting:

John D.R. Atchison, 53, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., an assistant U.S. attorney based in Pensacola, Fla., was arrested Sunday at Detroit Metropolitan Airport when he arrived for a meeting with a woman he thought was going to let him have sex with her young daughter, authorities said. The woman actually was a Macomb County sheriff’s detective and part of an Internet sex sting operation….

When he arrived Sunday, he was carrying presents for the girl, including a doll and earrings, and also had sexual materials, Sheriff Mark Hackel said.

While the story has gotten little play nationally, it has shocked Atchison’s hometown:

“He’s squeaky clean,” said one local official, on condition of anonymity. Another says there was no indication of any untoward behavior on his part as a coach and president of the Gulf Breeze Sports Association (GBSA).

However, the mug shot confirms Roy Atchison is the same local resident who serves as GBSA president and assistant U.S. attorney…

And:

“I can’t believe it. It’s something that’s just totally out of the blue,” [Gulf Breeze City Manager Buz Eddy ] said. “I never would have even thought ‘That guy’s a little strange’ or anything like that. I’m still hoping to hear some type of explanation.”

And yes, he’s a family man:

Atchison’s wife, Barbara, is a science teacher at Gulf Breeze High School and the two have three children.

The particulars of the case are really heinous:

From Aug. 31 to Sept. 13 of this year, Atchison chatted online “almost daily” with an undercover Macomb County Sheriff’s Office detective posing as the mother of a 5-year-old girl, according to an FBI affidavit.

During these chats, Atchison “expressed a desire to engage in illicit sexual conduct with Det. (Linda) Findlay’s fictitious 5-year-old daughter, to include oral and vaginal sex, as well as sodomy,” according to the affidavit.

When the detective expressed concern the sex would physically harm the child, Atchison replied, “I’m always gentle and loving; not to worry; no damage ever; no rough stuff ever; I only like it soft and nice,” according to the affidavit.

When the detective asked how he could be so sure, Atchison wrote, “I can be absolutely sure; just gotta go slow and very easy is how; I’ve done it plenty,” the affidavit says.

While people who knew Atchison are shocked by the news of his arrest, there was apparently at least one oblique clue that he had kinky predilections:

[Atchison] had a MySpace page where he listed his occupation as “daddy” and featured several photos of young adults dressed in diapers.

Investigators said Atchison’s online page uses abbreviations to say he wants to meet adult baby/teen baby girls, and wants a diaper-loving girl to “pamper, spoil, change, and take care of.”

Atchison, of Gulf Breeze, Fla., last logged onto his page Sept. 10, six days before he was arrested by Macomb County Sheriff’s deputies in an undercover sting.

And his page on online meeting place MySpace was not marked as private, which means it was open for anyone to view….

In his online profile, Atchison appears to be into infantilism, a fetish where adults wear diapers and act child-like for sexual gratification.

So is the mainstream media ignoring this story because of its high ick factor — or because Roy Atchison is allegedly Republican?

Or maybe it is just their abiding obsession with O.J. Simpson.